Chapter 117: Misunderstandings, Revelations, and Misery

Perhaps satisfied with his play, Illumi pulled the five-centimeter-long needle from Cheng’s throat. He stared, expressionless, as Cheng coughed up blood and wept.

“Enough. Tell me about that strange ability of yours. If you hold anything back…” Illumi brandished a round-headed nail between his fingers.

After catching his breath for ten seconds, Cheng finally felt capable of speech.

“The Mainframe Space.” The words left Cheng’s lips, but to Illumi, they registered only as static.

Illumi frowned slightly, while Cheng’s heart hammered against his ribs. Keywords like attributes, talents, LP points, and "My World"—all related to the space—tumbled from Cheng’s mouth, yet they were all doomed to become nothing more than noise.

*A restriction-type Nen ability, then…* By observing the movement of Cheng’s throat and lips, Illumi realized that the man truly wanted to divulge his secrets but was prevented by some special force.

The rules of the Mainframe Space led Illumi to believe Cheng was under a Nen-based binding. However, the lack of an Exorcist made the cost of extracting Cheng’s secrets too high. The disparity between the effort required and the potential reward stirred a sense of disgust in Illumi; he never had much patience for worthless captives.

The terrified, contorted look on Cheng’s face made him acutely aware of Illumi’s impatience—a sensation chillingly similar to when Yuno would loom over him with an axe in hand.

Desperate to dampen the suffocating, murderous aura, Cheng cleverly bypassed the restricted keywords and began spilling his most personal secrets.

The date of his first nocturnal emission, his fear of dentists, how many times he masturbated daily, how many times he had been forced to kneel on stairs the previous week—Cheng blurted it all out, regardless of whether it was useful or not.

Strangely enough, Illumi’s impatience was replaced by a feeling he had never experienced before. His cat-like eyes didn't blink as he stared at Cheng, making his thoughts completely unreadable.

Had his grandfather, Zeno Zoldyck, been present, he would have recognized that Illumi was currently in a state of rare amusement and relaxation. Due to his family upbringing and profession, the assassin training Illumi endured as a child was even more brutal than what he currently put Killua through. Without exceptional talent, one had to compensate with infinite effort; for them, games of hide-and-seek were never just games—they were matters of life and death.

Thus, this bizarre combination of nonsense and confession was a first in Illumi’s life.

***

Amused, Illumi simply pulled a rock over to use as a seat, sat down leisurely, and gestured for Cheng to continue.

On a gray crag in the distance, Hao Ren, who had finished dressing, tugged at his new headband, looking quite satisfied. It was unexpected that Pokkle, despite his small stature, wore clothes a size too large, fitting Hao Ren perfectly.

In a nearby tree hollow, Pokkle, now stripped down to his underwear, wept—despite not having shed a tear when blades were driven into his body. The humiliation was indescribable. To be stripped bare while unconscious for the second time, and by the same person, was maddening. Just how much of a grudge did this man have against him?

Hao Ren was merciful enough, at least, to leave his bow and arrows.

Not far away, Red-Nose, still paralyzed, wore a strange expression. Having lost only his trousers because his blood-stained shirt was deemed worthless, he seemed to be holding onto some sort of expectation, only to turn despondent—it was quite complex. Fortunately, Hao Ren didn't see his face, or he surely would have finished him off. If not for the lack of spell-casting materials, Hao Ren wouldn't have cared for his clothes at all.

“Master, look. That ‘Cheng’ you mentioned seems to be saying something quite interesting,” Sharp’s avian eyes flickered; it appeared he had begun recording the second segment.

“Hmm, let me see.” Hao Ren accessed his Mobius loop network and froze.

A long silence followed.

“How miserable! Poor Cheng! He’s even more pathetic than a second-tier soldier sent to a minefield by an idiot commander!” Hao Ren wept openly.

To say his life was tragic was an understatement. (Note: Hao Ren is the type of man who cries while watching the ninth episode of *Angel Beats!* and the final episode of *Code Geass R2*, which is quite embarrassing.)

He never imagined Cheng would have Yuno Gasai as a summoned contract creature. She was a god-tier character who would kill even herself if her jealousy flared (in the literal sense). Hao Ren, for one, would politely decline such a girl; the mere thought of her made him want to commit suicide.

According to Cheng’s account, there were at least ten other players in his faction and twenty NPCs from various dungeons. Nearly forty people had died at Yuno’s hands, and the reason was always the same: they had merely made contact with Cheng, were deemed a threat by Yuno, and were subsequently hacked to death.

Ever since Yuno and the others were summoned, Cheng’s life had undergone a drastic transformation.

***

To give a few simple examples:

Before becoming a player, Cheng had been self-sufficient in the kitchen. While his cooking skills weren't exactly "MAX," he could handle basic home-cooked meals without issue. Now, however, the kitchen was a battlefield for his girls. If Cheng dared to step inside, he was greeted by an array of gleaming blades.

As everyone knows, Kotonoha Katsura is a culinary master (allegedly), capable of killing without a trace; very few in the industry can rival her, save for the likes of Tae Shimura, Ram, or Sella.

Yuno, unexpectedly, could cook nothing but tomatoes and curry (volcano-level spice)—likely a modification made by the Mainframe.

As for the "Little Angel" Ayase, she had recently developed a tendency toward Western-style witchcraft, spending her days stirring vats of bubbling green liquid with a ladle.

For Cheng, for whom stomach pumping had become a daily routine, the only way to avoid an early grave from a perforated ulcer was to sneak out and buy bento boxes to eat in secret.

Hoodies, sunglasses, and gloves were Cheng’s daily outdoor gear. He had lost count of how many times he had been hauled into the station for "tea" because of his suspicious appearance.

But Cheng dared not go without them. If he wanted to prevent a repeat of the incident where "merely brushing hands with a female clerk while taking change led to her being bled out in an alley," such stalker-like precautions were mandatory.

That "Mother-of-Eggs" strike—a lethal blow so heavy it cracked the very walls—who else but his own Yuno could pull that off?

Yuno Gasai: Stalking Skill MAX.

The only silver lining was that Yuno’s "XX Diary" required LP points to activate. As long as Cheng kept a tight grip on his wallet, he wouldn't be under 24-hour surveillance.